1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to identification bracelets and, more particularly, to identifying media for use in conjunction with various types of drinking vessels.
2. Description of Related Art
At most social gatherings, the participants are served liquid refreshments served in non-throw away vessels, such as wine glasses, beer steins, etc. During the course of such a gathering, the participants often seek to obtain refills but sometimes forget where they may have left their original drinking vessel and seek a replacement. This results in numerous empty or partially filled drinking vessels distributed throughout the area of the gathering. More importantly, the participants seeking refills tend to request or obtain clean and unused drinking vessels. This demand for substitute drinking vessels places a heavy burden on the host or hosting organization to have a supply of drinking vessels far greater in number than the number of participants at the gathering.
Many times participants at a gathering inadvertently pick up a drinking vessel believing it to be their own and end up drinking out of a drinking vessel previously used by someone else. This leads to socially awkward situations. Moreover, the drinking vessels may become transmitting media for bacteria and viruses with resulting medically related complications. In many cases, severe emotional stress is created when a person realizes he/she has been drinking out of someone else""s drinking vessel.
One solution to this problem is that of using only throw away drinking vessels but this solution is essentially only socially practical and acceptable at outdoor gatherings of an informal nature. For primarily indoor gatherings, wherein stemware and/or beer steins having handles are the drinking vessels of choice, personal identifying media has been used. One such media is the use of paper roundels normally used as coasters that have been cut from the perimeter to the center to permit insertion of the stem of a wine glass and the cut is closed by length of adhesive tape. The user can then write his/her name on the paper roundel for identifying purposes. Identifying media of this type is relatively inexpensive and serves it""s purpose but it requires preparation and care during use, which are impediments to the practical value of this media.
To reduce the workload and yet provide an identifying media, differently configured charms mounted on or depending from a wire clasp has been used. Such a clasp includes a U-shaped ends or hooks to permit mounting the clasp about the stem of a wine glass or handle of a beer stein and engaging the hooks with one another. For some people such engagement requires two-handed manipulation and depending upon the dexterity of a user, more or less difficulty is encountered.
The present invention includes an unique encircling member that may be a string of beads, a wire or one or more strands and may support an identifying charm. The opposed ends of the encircling member support magnets of opposing polarity when facing one another to form a magnetic coupling. To detachably attach the encircling member to the stem of a wine glass, handle of a beer stein or similar element of a drinking vessel, the ends of the encircling member are placed thereabout and into close proximity with one another. Upon placement in close proximity with one another, the end supported magnets are attracted to one another and become magnetically coupled. Thereby, the user has identified his/her drinking vessel as the encircling member with or without a supported charm(s) is unique from those of others. When the need for identification ceases, disengagement is effected by simply pulling the magnetically coupled ends apart from one another and withdrawing the encircling member from about the element.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide identifying media for use in conjunction with drinking vessels.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetically coupled identifying media for engaging the stem or handle of a drinking vessel.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an identifying charm magnetically coupled about the stem of a wine glass or handle of a mug or cup.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic coupling for retaining a string of beads or the like about the stem of a wine glass or the handle of a cup or mug.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a flexible element having magnetically coupled ends for encircling the stem of a wine glass or the handle of a cup or mug.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a wine glass charm retained in place by a magnetic coupling.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a magnetically detachably attachable identifying media for use with drinking vessels.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for identifying a drinking vessel used by a particular user.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.